1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus which is provided with a line head.
2. Related Art
As disclosed in JP-A-2014-111388, JP-A-2011-062851, and JP-A-2009-113212, a liquid ejecting apparatus such as an ink jet printer that is provided with the line head has a structure in which a flexible tube is set as a flow path from a liquid supply source of a liquid accommodating body or the like, or the liquid is supplied to the line head via an ink path tube.
In addition, the line head may be connected by a flexible flat cable (hereinafter in some cases simply referred to as “FFC”) to an electronic circuit board or the like where the position is fixed.
The line head is elongated in a direction which intersects with a transport direction of the medium. A plurality of nozzles which eject liquid on a nozzle formation surface of the line head are provided to span substantially the entire length in a longitudinal direction. The flexible tube configures all or a portion of the liquid supply flow path from the liquid supply source by connecting a connecting portion on a tube side in a joint that is provided on the line head. The liquid which is supplied from the joint is supplied to each nozzle through a plurality of flow paths which are provided within the line head.
In addition, a structure is adopted in which it is possible to raise and lower the line head with respect to a support surface which supports the medium such that it is possible to adjust a gap between the medium and the nozzle formation surface corresponding to a difference of thicknesses of mediums, or corresponding to a curl of the medium. Furthermore, there is a structure in which the line head moves to a maintenance position which is positioned below, and in the case of the structure, a movement distance in an up and down direction is increased to more than a movement distance for adjusting the gap from the medium.
When raised and lowered as described above, the line head is raised and lowered together with the joint and the flexible tube which is connected to the joint. In addition, the FFC is also raised and lowered together.
There is a risk that stress is applied to the flexible tube due to the raising and lowering, and liquid leakage occurs from a portion of the joint. In a case where the position of the flexible tube is fixed due to a fixing section on the apparatus main body side in the vicinity of the line head, it is particularly easy for stress to be applied.
In addition, there is a risk that twisting is generated in the FFC due to the raising and lowering of the line head. In addition, there is a risk that stress is applied to the FFC due to the raising and lowering of the line head, and the FFC is separated from the connecting section of the line head and breaks.
In addition, since the liquid which is supplied from the joint to within the line head is sent to each nozzle through the plurality of flow paths, but each nozzle is provided across the entirety of the longitudinal direction of the elongated line head, variance is easily generated in each flow path length from the joint to each nozzle. The variance is generated in supply pressure from the liquid supply source when the variance of the flow path length is large, and thereby, there is a risk that variance is generated in weight of liquid droplets which are ejected from each nozzle.
In addition, in the case of a structure in which the flexible tube is removed from the joint of the line head during maintenance or the like, there are cases where the liquid drips accompanying the removal. Since there is a medium transport region below the line head, there is a risk that the dripped liquid falls on the medium transport region.
JP-A-2014-111388, JP-A-2011-062851, and JP-A-2009-113212 neither describe nor suggest a problem of stress being applied to the flexible tube or variance of supply pressure from the liquid supply side.
In addition, JP-A-2014-111388, JP-A-2011-062851, and JP-A-2009-113212 neither describe nor suggest a problem of twisting being generated in the FFC due to raising and lowering of the line head, a problem of stress being applied to the FFC, or a problem of separation of the FFC from the line head or breakage.